Thing #23 The End

I wanted to participate in Learn&Play at CML to improve my technology skills and to learn independently. We have many tech experts in our division, and it's easy to get help on particularly complex issues when working with customers or on office projects. When a co-worker takes over a tech issue, I don't learn as much from the situation, although usually the customer is served quickly and competently. Now I'll be able to tackle some of those tech questions that used to stump me. Thank you for setting up the learning tasks and allowing plenty of time to work on them. This program has allowed me to strengthen my lifelong learning goals of perseverance, patience, time management, organization and planning, and I have sharpened my memory with all of my new passwords. I have increased confidence when approaching new technologies, and can recognize and apply this knowledge to unfamiliar technologies. Professionally I feel much more confident, and personally I can see more entertainment value in the Web 2.0 things. I appreciate the opportunity to be creative with Flickr and del.icio.us. I started out with a state symbols/Ohio theme, but couldn't pull the whole thing together, and I'm not much for writing a lot or sharing, but I'm proud of the fact that I created a blog and stuck with it; I really enjoyed reading the other participants' blogs and found them to be entertaining. I'm envious of their writing talent and creative skills. I think that Twitter and wikis are for the outgoing, effervescent and gregarious ones, but it was fun to lurk around in the background. I discovered the NPR Podcasts which were something old (I listen to NPR occasionally on the radio) and something new (ipods are a relatively foreign technology to me, although a colleague recently demonstrated an ipod: a bright red credit-card shaped box with a television screen).

My favorite discoveries and exercises included exploring CML's Power Tools and creating my personal library inventory using Library Thing. The most challenging assignments were the RSS Feeds & Newsreaders, (lots of steps and complex directions) and the Online Applications and Tools. The most entertaining and informative parts of the Learn&Play at CML program were the educational videos created by the Learn&Play staff: our own Youtube here at Columbus Metropolitan Library. I like the idea of having access to online books and music using Digital Media, but I prefer to read the old fashioned books and magazines. I plan to add some of the new technologies to my inventory of CDs and DVDs and videotapes and cassette tapes and records . . .

A future outcome of this program for me is to create a personal family genealogy blog to share with friends and family, target date 2009.

I liked the format of this program because it allowed for independent study and focussed on the students' individual goals, knowledge and abilities. I hope that CML has more discovery programs like this in the future. Add me to the list of participants!

Thing #22 Digital Media

This is one of the easier Things. I already have a Moldi account and have downloaded ebooks, mainly self help titles and poetry books which are easy reads on the computer.

For this assignment I checked out two titles and they will remain on my bookshelf until November 20, 2008.

How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes, an Adobe Pdf ebook and Handel: Fireworks Music/Water Music by George Frideric Handel, both the OverDrive Music and the Adobe PDF ebook.